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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. chip — in a computer
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. chip — for betting
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. degree — from a university
  7. face — to confront
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. row — a line
  10. face — to point toward
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. cold — not warm
  13. row — to paddle
  14. club — for golf
  15. club — for dancing
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. degree — temperature
  18. mine — for digging
  19. face — part of the head
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. club — a group
  22. cold — an illness
  23. degree — an amount
  24. chip — to eat

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com